When You're Gone
by hiddeninthelibrary
Summary: "I love you to Tartarus and back." What if Percy died in the Blood of Olympus? Would he choose rebirth? What happened to Annabeth, and all his friends? Rated T for anguish and death. Contains major feels. Oneshot. Cover pic by Viria.


**A/N: A oneshot which may leave you guys angry and/or upset. I had to write this because angst is something I'm good at. Rated T because of anguish, depressed thoughts and death. So yeah. It's based off the song _When You're Gone,_ by Avril Lavigne. Go listen to it!**

 **Don't forget to leave a review! :)**

 **Disclaimer: I wish Percy Jackson and the Olympians/ the Heroes of Olympus belonged to me, but it doesn't. Also, I do not own Avril Lavigne's _'When You're Gone'._**

* * *

I knew something was wrong the moment the world tilted sideways.

I could see Annabeth running towards me, but she was running on the wall. I remember thinking, _Woah, Wise Girl, when did you turn into Spiderman?_

That's when the side of my face hit the ground, hard. And _then_ I noticed that I had actually fallen, and Annabeth was running on the grass at a normal angle after all.

Only I couldn't see her properly- not even when she knelt down next to me. I couldn't focus on her face. Everything was blurry. I couldn't listen to what everyone was saying, either. The sounds of campers fighting all around us sounded muffled, like I was in a really strong bubble.

And Annabeth was in the bubble with me too, because her sobs were the only thing I could hear properly.

I think that's what snapped me back into reality. I suddenly noticed a burning ache in my chest which hit me all at once. I opened my mouth to say, _Ouch, that hurts,_ but no sound came out. I was able to turn my head slightly, and I noticed the shaft of an arrow protruding from my chest. As soon as I looked at it, the pain tripled. Blood cascaded out of the wound, wetting my shirt, making me feel sticky. I could feel white-hot agony numbing my senses, making me want to cry out in pain. I wanted to do something, anything, to put me out of my misery.

* * *

 ** _I always needed time on my own_**  
 ** _I never thought I'd need you there when I cry_**

* * *

My eyes flickered back to Annabeth again. Her voice seemed to bring me out of my pain-induced stupor. She was crying really hard- I don't think I'd ever seen her this distressed. The world suddenly came back into focus, with twice the amount of color and contrast- I could see every tear, glistening on her face. I could hear angry cries all around me. The fight was still on- we could still defeat Gaea.

Even if it meant I'd die.

I weakly shifted my hand and placed it over hers. Her face was bent low, but when my palm came in contact with her skin, she lifted her head up and stared at me through tears.

"Don't- don't you dare leave me!" she cried.

"Annabeth," I finally managed to wheeze words out. "It's okay."

"No, it's _not!_ You're d- dying, h- how is that _okay?"_

I could see somebody running towards me and sink down next to Annabeth. It was Grover.

* * *

 _ **And the days feel like years when I'm alone**_

* * *

"I felt his pain through the empathy link, and I came here, and- oh, Gods, Perce, _NO!"_ He dropped to the ground and clutched my other hand. "No, no, you can't- you can't! What- what happened?" He was crying too.

Annabeth's expression turned livid. "Octavian," she spat. "Who else? He just let loose an arrow at me- I had turned around- and Percy- he jumped in front of me, and-" And then she broke down, and Grover had to hug her. His face was white as chalk.

I wanted to say, _Hey, I'm dying here, I could use a little more urgency!_ but I just couldn't. The pain was blinding. Numbing. It felt like a thousand daggers were being pierced into every inch of my skin, especially my throat and my chest. My vision was dimming rapidly now. Everything went blurry again, and all the colors seemed to leak away. It was like I was looking at an old photograph- grainy, blurred and undetailed.

And I knew it was time to go.

* * *

 _ **And the bed where you lie**_  
 _ **Is made up on your side**_

* * *

I summoned every last ounce of strength I have, and spoke to both of them. My willpower drained away with every word. With every sharp intake of breath I took, the world turned just a little duller, just a little whiter.

"I guess it's just the three of us again," I wheezed, trying to sound lighthearted. It didn't work. Annabeth was grasping my hand and squeezing it repeatedly now, shaking her head. "No! No, Percy! Don't!"

"Grover, you'll always be my best friend," I said, struggling with every syllable. He looked at me, tears pooling at his chin, wetting his orange shirt, making him look so vulnerable.

"Annabeth," I rasped, making her look up at me with so much, so much grief in her eyes.

"I love you to Tartarus and back," I whispered.

* * *

 _ **When you walk away I count the steps that you take**_  
 _ **Do you see how much I need you right now?**_

* * *

I heard an anguished scream, which I knew had come from Annabeth. If I had a little more strength, I'd try to comfort her, try to make her feel better, but I couldn't. Her every sob ripped me apart even more, making me dizzier than I already was.

I turned my head, and tried to relax. I was exhausted. I couldn't hear Annabeth or Grover scream- I could just see the soft, gentle colors of the sky that made me even more tired and sleepy than I already was. The pain had dulled. It was just a throb now. I gave a last smile before the clouds up ahead seemed to take me into their arms, and fold me in a blanket of white light.

And just before I left, I heard a voice- a calm one, but it was filled with remorse and grief and unending sorrow.

It was Annabeth's, and she whispered only one word.

 _Percy._

* * *

 _ **When you're gone**_  
 _ **The pieces of my heart are missing you**_  
 _ **When you're gone**_  
 _ **The face I came to know is missing too**_  
 _ **When you're gone**_  
 _ **The words I need to hear to always get me through the day**_  
 _ **And make it OK**_

* * *

She never thought she'd see the day.

She never thought she'd see him die this way.

With all his strength draining away from him as he finished uttering his last words. He had a small smile imprinted on his face, as if he was finally relaxed. His eyes were open, and were glazed over. With two fingers she closed his eyelids before screaming out in pain- not physical, but emotional. And just as the ground rumbled, and Jason and Piper descended to the ground, which meant that Gaea had been defeated, the whole campground went silent.

Silent, as a mark of respect for a fallen warrior.

But the silence meant more than that.

* * *

 _ **I've never felt this way before**_  
 _ **Everything that I do reminds me of you**_

* * *

It was respect for an amazing, amazing demigod, who was so loyal and so kind and so soft, who always helped out, and if he loved you, then you were the luckiest person on Earth because his love was undying. He had a few irksome habits, and at times he was silly, but he was so sweet and cute and he was such a good warrior, and he'd stolen a part of Annabeth's soul, and now he was dead, dead and gone...

And there came more cries. From Frank, from Hazel, from Jason whispering _"No!"_ in shock, from Piper who was cupping her hands to her mouth. From Grover who was curling up into a ball. From Tyson. Chiron looked taken aback. Everyone couldn't believe it.

Percy Jackson, the demigod with the most beautiful soul in the entire camp, was gone.

 _G-O-N-E._

And nobody could believe it.

* * *

 _ **And the clothes you left, they lie on the floor**_

* * *

Annabeth was so enraged with Octavian. That foul, deceitful, loathsome little rodent had fired an arrow at her back. Percy had seen it. He'd jumped in front of her. And what was even more disgusting was that that horrible creature- he was nowhere near human- had given her a victorious smile. A _SMILE._ She was so furious that when she came to know he had been shot into the sky by a cannon, she just screamed at how he deserved to die even more painfully, and he needed to be tortured in the Fields of Punishment-

-Chiron had taken her away, and she had sat in the Big House for what seemed like forever. She was alone, and drowning in her grief, and she felt like she couldn't take it anymore...

* * *

 _ **And they smell just like you,**_  
 _ **I love the things that you do**_

* * *

And when they burnt his shroud, just two days later, Annabeth sank to the ground, crying in grief. It hurt so much- there was a hole in her heart, and it couldn't be filled, no matter what...

And they mourned Leo too, that day, but Annabeth couldn't spare even a pinch of grief for anyone other than Percy. Her actions looked selfish, and she knew they were, but Percy was the only person she'd ever known who had loved her more than he had loved himself.

 _I love you to Tartarus and back,_ he had said.

That proved it all.

And now he was gone.

GONE.

 _G-O-N-E._

And Annabeth didn't know how to _go on._

* * *

 _ **When you walk away I count the steps that you take**_  
 _ **Do you see how much I need you right now?**_

* * *

But three weeks later, when the pain was still there, still there, Annabeth could concentrate on other things, happy things.

Their first underwater kiss.

Them snuggling in the Argo II.

Them surviving Tartarus and escaping alive.

When they met.

Holding the sky.

And there were so many things she could concentrate on, other than the grief, and the depression, that Annabeth found out that she could _go on_.

She had his jackets, and every night she hugged them tight and fell asleep with them, because they smelled like him. They smelled like the wind, and seaweed, and the ocean. And Annabeth knew that he wasn't _really G-O-N-E,_ as long as she had her memories of him.

And that made all the difference.

* * *

 _ **When you're gone**_  
 _ **The pieces of my heart are missing you**_  
 _ **When you're gone**_  
 _ **The face I came to know is missing too**_  
 _ **When you're gone**_  
 _ **The words I need to hear to always get me through the day**_  
 _ **And make it OK**_  
 _ **I miss you**_

* * *

I remember being pulled out of a river, every inch of my skin stinging. I remember standing in front of three judges who argued on who I was and where I should go. I couldn't focus on what they were saying- I just kept replaying how I had died, again and again in my mind, and how it hurt me when I heard Annabeth's anguished cry.

Somebody walked me to a vast expanse of land filled with rich green grass, and the smell of barbecue, and the noises of happy laughter. It looked like the only joyful place amidst all this darkness. I could see people smiling, beckoning me towards them.

* * *

 _ **We were made for each other**_  
 _ **Out here forever**_  
 _ **I know we were, yeah, yeah**_

* * *

I walked towards them, still in a dreamy state. I enjoyed the light breeze that blew through my hair. This was _Elysium._ The place where heroes went when they died.

I was a hero. And now I was here.

I felt rather lonely on seeing other people smiling and laughing and talking to each other happily, and I wanted Annabeth with me.

I shut my eyes as I realized how that sounded- Gods, no! I didn't want her dead. I wanted to be with her, both of us happy and alive. I wanted to build a life with her, in New Rome, and we'd both go on dates and kill monsters and do what regular happy demigods do.

Somebody asked me- in my trance, I didn't know who- if I wanted to choose rebirth.

I had mulled it over. I didn't want to be all alone in Elysium, without my real friends, and Annabeth, and my mom, and Paul. If I chose to be born again, I could even meet them sometime.

* * *

 _ **All I ever wanted was for you to know**_  
 _ **Everything I do, I give my heart and soul**_  
 _ **I can hardly breathe, I need to feel you here with me, yeah**_

* * *

But then I paused.

If I chose rebirth, I might not actually meet them again- the chances were extremely low. But what was worse was that I'd have to jump in the River Lethe, and all my memories would be lost. My ability to control water and stay dry after jumping in wouldn't work here. They would _know_ I'd try something like that. And besides, even if I _did_ meet them, I'd be seventeen years younger than Annabeth, and that would be pretty awkward. And this was the big thing.

I didn't _want_ to forget.

I didn't want to forget every little detail, like all the things I'd done, and my victory over the Minotaur, and eating blue cake, and discovering Camp Half-Blood. I didn't want to forget all the friends I'd met, or Chiron, or Mr. D always mispronouncing my name, or the Strawberry Fields in summer, or my cabin that always smelled like the sea. Most of all, I didn't want to forget Annabeth.

So I had smiled and shook my head. Annabeth would come to Elysium after she died, anyway. It would be a long, long time before I'd ever see her again.

But until then, I had my memories of her.

And I think that made it worth the wait.

* * *

 _ **When you're gone**_  
 _ **The pieces of my heart are missing you**_  
 _ **When you're gone**_  
 _ **The face I came to know is missing too**_  
 _ **When you're gone**_  
 _ **The words I need to hear will always get me through the day**_  
 _ **And make it OK**_  
 _ **I miss you.**_

* * *

 **A/N: Ahhhhh that wasn't long, that wasn't long at all, but my fingers hurt so so so much, oh my Gods! This is my first fic for the PJO fandom, so yeah.**

 **Anyways, how was it? Did you like it? Love it? Hate it? Despise it? Did I make you cry? Tell me, I'm dying to know!**

 **I'm sorry if you thought it was poorly written, because I thought it wasn't very good. Normally I do better than that, so...**

 **I'd really love it if you left me a PM or a review! I spent an hour on this, and I could use some appreciation xD**

 **Anyway, I published this and it got 200 views within one night. OH MY GODS! Thank you guys! I'm answering the previous comments because they were so nice:**

 **giraffesplaycello: THANK YOU SO MUCH that's so nice of you.**

 **Equinoxes: Thank you! That really made my day!**

 **DaughterOfApollo4ever: Thank youu! I'm glad you liked it ^.^**

 **TheNightstriker: Yeah, I wanted to make it sad but heartwarming at the same time. Thank you! :)**

 **Well, that's all for now.**

 **-Artemis**


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